A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life in Egypt...

A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and their scarab, do the boys realise they are in terrible danger. Dr. Khalid wants the relic at all costs.

Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. They are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and mysterious events when Dr. Khalid kidnaps them. They survive terrifying dangers in a hostile environment (such as a giant cobra and sinking sand), pursued by enemies in their quest to solve the secret of the sacred scarab. They must translate the hieroglyphic clues on the underside of the scarab, as well as rescue the missing archaeologist James Kinnaird, and their friend, the Egyptologist Ebrahim Faza, before time runs out. They must also learn more about the ancient Seven Stones of Power and the mysterious Shemsu-Hor.

With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive … only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!

About the Author

My earliest story-telling talents came to the fore when, from the age of ten, I entertained my three younger brothers and their friends with serialised tales of children undertaking dangerous and exciting exploits, which they survived through courage and ingenuity. The never-ending story was called "Gruesome Gables", and it certainly was gruesome! Haunted houses, vampires, and skeletons leaping out of coffins were hot favourites in the cast of characters. Although I don't have children of my own, I have an adopted teenage foster child, from an underprivileged background, who is just discovering the joys of reading for pleasure.

Naturally, I am a voracious reader and have been from early childhood. I can remember sitting on the bus going home from school, reading, and then missing my stop because I was so caught up in the book. I also went to boarding school at Durban Girls' College and the boarders' section was separate from the school. I used to walk down to College House with one foot in the gutter of the path, so that I could continue reading and not walk into a tree or something. I love all kinds of books, art, theatre, antiques, animals (5 cats, 2 dogs and a ferocious duck called Charlemagne), music, and films. Travel is another passion and I have been fortunate to have lived in Europe (while studying) and America (for work). I have travelled widely and fulfilled many of my travel goals.

Being a bookworm, I had to attend university. After winning the Emma Smith Scholarship to finance my university studies, I graduated from the University of Natal, Durban with a double first in my B.A. (French & Drama). I won a Human Sciences Research Council Bursary, which enabled me to do my Honours in Drama at Natal. I then went to the University of the Witwatersrand to do my Masters in French-African literature (the impact of colonial language and culture upon the development of African theatre and literature). I desperately wanted to go into the world of theatre so I applied for and won the Emma Smith Overseas Scholarship for further study. I studied drama at The Drama Studio in London and mime at L'Ecole Jacques le Coq in Paris. When I returned to South Africa, I wanted to give something back to the community - after all, I'd been privileged enough to win a fantastic scholarship that changed my life. I immersed myself in teaching drama at community centres, and became involved in producing community and grassroots theatre with local playwrights and performers in Natal for several years. A move to Johannesburg took me in a new direction ... journalism. I have written freelance for the last fifteen years.